Lightning Update, U.S. Wins Gold Cup, and More

The Austin Lightning lost their fourth straight game Friday, 2-0 to the Mississippi Brilla; perhaps worse, they were forced into their third last-minute venue change of the season, playing this time at the Williamson County regional park stadium. This Friday they host the division-leading El Paso Patriots, whom they've already beaten twice this season. Friday, June 29, 7:30pm, Vista Ridge Stadium.

The U.S. men continued their domination over Mexico on Sunday, coming from behind to win 2-1 in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final, at a sold-out Soldier Field. Now they move on to the South American championship, the Copa América, already under way in Venezuela.

In contrast to the veteran squad that faced Mexico, U.S. coach Bob Bradley has selected a very young team for the Copa América, with only a handful of players with any real international experience. They're a definite dark horse in a group with Argentina, Paraguay, and Colombia (Thursday, Monday, Thursday; Telefutura and GolTV).

The U.S. women continue to roll; they dominated Brazil on Saturday – winning 2-0 on early goals from Kristine Lilly and Abby Wambach.

The FIFA Under-20 World Cup kicks off June 30 across six venues in Canada. The U.S., competing in their sixth straight WC, is in a group with South Korea, Poland, and Brazil (ESPNU and Galavision).

Brad Davis was named MLS player of the week for his hat trick as the Houston Dynamo pounded Chivas, 4-0, to move past them into second place in the West. Next up for the streaking Dynamo: first place Dallas, this Saturday.

Top news in the transfer market: Thierry Henry completed a $30 million move to Barcelona on Monday, citing unrest at former club Arsenal, and seeming uncertainty over Arsene Wenger's future as manager there.
Barca also picked up Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure from Monaco. Add those guys to Ronaldinho, Deco, and Lionel Messi, and it's downright scary …
which might make Samuel Eto'o available; AC Milan has indicated that he's their main, and perhaps only, transfer target for the offseason, as Andriy Shevchenko's return from Chelsea looks unlikely ...
AC lost out to crosstown rivals Inter Milan in a signing war over Honduran striker David Suazo ...
Barca has released defender Giovanni Von Bronckhorst to rejoin Feyenoord Rotterdam ...
Atletico Madrid are facing protests in the streets over the likely $50 million sale to Liverpool of striker Fernando Torres, an Atletico youth product and a supporter of the team since childhood.